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Municipal Associations, Membership Composition, and Interest Representation in Local-Provincial Relations

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Municipal Associations, Membership Composition, and Interest Representation in Local-Provincial Relations Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 10-16-2015 12:00 AM Municipal Associations, Membership Composition, and Interest Representation in Local-Provincial Relations Alison Katherine Shott The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Robert A. Young The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Political Science A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Alison Katherine Shott 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Other Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Shott, Alison Katherine, "Municipal Associations, Membership Composition, and Interest Representation in Local-Provincial Relations" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3333. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3333 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATIONS, MEMBERSHIP COMPOSITION, AND INTEREST REPRESENTATION IN LOCAL-PROVINCIAL RELATIONS (Thesis format: Monograph) by Alison Katherine Shott Graduate Program in Political Science A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Alison Katherine Shott 2015 Abstract Municipal associations carry out two core functions – advocacy and providing member services. How associations prioritize and perform these functions is largely unclear. This dissertation explores how membership composition affects their activities. Canada’s 18 provincial level municipal associations all provide advocacy and services for their members, but there are considerable differences within their memberships. Some associations represent all municipalities within a province while others are divided along linguistic, regional, or rural/urban lines. In addition, the municipalities they represent can vary by size, legal type, region, ethnicity/language, and rural/urban character. Two measures of membership composition are employed: rural/urban dominance and population size. They are used to examine three areas of associations’ activities: issues pursued in intergovernmental lobbying, the jurisdictional aspect of policy requests, and the allocation of collective resources. The three research questions employed in this dissertation share the approach of measuring the input of membership composition and correlating it with the outputs of organizational behaviour and policy requests. In total, seven hypotheses are tested. 1: Unified associations pursue functional, municipal issues. 2: Rural associations pursue socio- economic issues. 3: Urban associations pursue stronger municipal regulatory control. 4: Associations with homogeneous member populations lobby for provincial programs to meet their requests. 5: Associations with heterogeneous member populations request the resources to institute municipal programs. 6: Small municipalities positively affect an association’s level of service delivery. 7: Large municipalities negatively affect an association’s level of service delivery. The results of analysis provide strong evidence that associational behaviour is not determined by the external environment alone, but also by internal composition of membership. Associations use organizational structures – boards of directors, caucuses, sub- associations, and district meetings – to represent the cleavages in their membership, but the extent of these cleavages impacts the mix and content of the associations’ activities. Rural/urban dominance influences the type of issues associations pursue in intergovernmental lobbying. The dispersion of member populations affects both the jurisdictional aspect of policy requests and the allocation of collective resources between services and advocacy. These findings provide exploratory, empirical evidence that membership composition influences associational behaviour. They advance our understandings of municipal associations and of collective action. Keywords: Municipal Associations, Interest Group Behaviour, Collective Action, Multilevel Governance, Local Government, Interest Representation, Public Policy, Canada ii Acknowledgments I am grateful for the many people who helped this dissertation come to fruition. Foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Robert Young, whose patient guidance, helpful insights, thoughtful critiques, and good humour made the completion of this dissertation not only possible, but also enjoyable. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Andrew Sancton for his suggestions and support as a member of my committee and throughout my time at Western. I would also like to thank my examiners – Dr. Martin Horak, Dr. Zachary Taylor, Dr. Neil Bradford, and Dr. Neil Thomlinson – for the time and thought they put into their questions and comments. During my time at the University of Prince Edward Island, Dr. Irené Novaczek asked if I would like to help her author a report on land use and local governance. I would like to thank her for that question, which sparked my interest in local government, and for her encouragement. To all of the provincial archivists; legislative, university, and public librarians; and especially municipal association staff that helped me track down and allowed me to access records, I am truly grateful. The research for this dissertation took me from coast to coast, and I was met with generosity and kindness from those who aided me along the way. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Jim and Kathy Shott. Their support and encouragement has been unwavering and incalculable – both on this project and throughout my life. Thanks, Mom and Dad. iii Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures.................................................................................................................... ix List of Images .................................................................................................................... xi List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ xii List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1............................................................................................................................. 1 1 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Formation, Development, and Functions of Municipal Associations in Canada ... 3 1.2 Methodology......................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Organization of Dissertation................................................................................. 13 1.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 2........................................................................................................................... 20 2 Theories of Government Association Behaviour......................................................... 20 2.1 Intergovernmental Lobbying Strategies................................................................ 20 2.2 Issue Priorities....................................................................................................... 26 2.3 Member Support and Engagement ....................................................................... 29 2.4 Membership Composition and Associations’ Behaviour ..................................... 31 2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 41 Chapter 3........................................................................................................................... 42 3 Membership Cleavages and Association Structures .................................................... 42 3.1 The Complexity of Association Memberships ..................................................... 42 iv 3.2 Formation of Associations.................................................................................... 45 3.3 Current Municipal Associations in Canada .......................................................... 53 3.4 The Non-Partisan Status of Associations and their Staff...................................... 60 3.5 Membership Uptake Amongst Municipalities...................................................... 61 3.6 Membership Fee Structures .................................................................................. 65 3.7 Board of Directors Structures ..............................................................................
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